Duke  University  Libraries 

Speech  of  Hon. 
Conf  Pam  #627 

DTTDbb7flflA 


(i-u:-: 


f7-  -■  .->-/-^'^   SPEECH 


OF 


HON.  GUSTAYUS  A.  HENRY, 


OF   TENNESSEE, 


In  the  Senate  of  the  Confederate  Slates,  November  29,  18G4. 


The  qnoBtion  being  on  the  joint  resolution   introduced  by  him  in  the   Senate,  defining  the 
position  of  the  Confederate    States,  and  declaring   the  determination  of  the  Congress  and  the 
I>eople  thereof  to  prosecnto  the  war  till  their  indspcndenco  is  acknowledged- 
Mr.  Henry  said  : 

Mr.  President,  I  rise  to  address  the  Senate  on  the  momentous 
questions  inolved  in  the  resolutions  which  have  just  been  reported 
to  the  Senate,  with  more  than  ordinary  sensibility.  The  field  pre- 
sented for  discussion  is  so  wide,  that  I  fear,  were  I  to  occupy  it  fully,  I 
might  consume  more  of  the  valuable  time  of  the  Senate  than  would  bo 
appropriate;  and  yet,  if  1  attempt  to  contract  my  remarks  into  too 
narrow  a  limit,  I  will  rob  the  resolutions  of  much  of  their  interest, 
and  render  the  discussion  of  them  stale  and  unprofitable.  I  will, 
therefore,  be  obliged  to  the  Senate  for  its  charitable  indulgence  while 
I  give  my  views,  in  my  own  way,  on  all  the  topics  I  may  see  proper  to 
discuss  ;  promising  the  Senate  to  strike  the  golden  medium,  if  I  can, 
which  lies  between  the  extremes  of  undue  expansion  on  the  one  hand 
and  of  contraction  on  the  other.  •  Sir,  I  feel  it  will  be  good  for  us  to- 
day, and  a  useful  occupation  of  our  time,  to  recur  to  first  principles, 
and  to  examine  well  the  ground  on  which  wo  stand,  that  the  judgment 
of  mankind,  which  we  invoke  on  our  conduct,  may  be  properly  en- 
lightened before  it  is  pronounced. 


e.    -^nUJ 


In  1776,  the  American  Rerolution  dawneil  upon  the  world,  and  the 
people  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  then  British  gubjects  the  common 
anceetors  of  the  parties  to  the  present  conflict  of  arras,  in  Congress 
as»embled,  proclajmed  to  the  world  the  Declaration  of  American  In- 
dependence, in  which  thepe  great  political  truths,  never  before  an- 
Dcunced  with  such  solemnity,  w.  re  submitted  to  the  candid  judgment 
of  .mankind — among  others,  that  all  men  *' are  endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  certain  unalienable  rijzhts;  that  among  these,  are  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  ;  thar,  to  secure  these  rights, 
governments  are  instited  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed  ;  that,  whenever  an}  form  of  gov- 
ernment becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  peo- 
ple to  alter  or  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  government,  laying 
its  foundation  on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such 
form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  hap- 
piness." 

To  establish  these  great  principles,  and  in  earnest  of  their  sincerity, 
the  Adamses  and  the  Hancocks  of  Massachusetts  "pledged  their  lives, 
their  fortunes  and  their  sacred  honor."  On  this  declaration  the  peo- 
ple of  Massachusetts  and  New  York,  Virginia  and  South  Carolina,  in- 
deed, the  whole  North  and  the  whole  South,  united  in  the  revolu- 
tionary struggle,  and,  hnnd  in  hiind,  fought  and  bled  in  its  defence, 
and  finally  achieved  their  independence,  in  despite  of  the  power  of 
England,  then  the  mistress  of  the  world.  This  was  the  language  of 
stern  men,  not  hastily  adopted  ;  of  unconquerable  patriots,  who  had 
counted  all  the  cost,  and  who  had  deliberately  staked  life,  liberty  and 
property  on  the  great  issue — the  independence  of  their  country. 

On  these  principles  our  fathers,  more  than  eighty  years  ago,  though 
comparatively  few  in  numbers,  grappled  with  the  power  of  Great 
Britain,  and,  after  seven  years  of  war,  in  which  their  country  was 
desolated,  and  their  cities  occupied,  possessed  and  sacked  by  the  en- 
emy, finally  triumphed.  On  these  same  principles  we  have  staked 
our  all,  in  the  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  with  the  United  States; 
and  though  our  country  may  be  despoiled  and  ravaged,  our  cities 
given  to  the  flames,  and  nothing  bo  left  but  the  "  blackness  of  ashes" 
to  mark  vthere  they  stood,  we,  too,  will  finally  triumph  and  achieve 
our  independence. 

Mr.  President,  are  not  these  principles  as  potent  now,  and  as  full 
of  magic,  as  when  they  were  uttered  in  Independence  Hall,  in  Phila- 
delphia, air  id  a  silence  as  deep  and  solemn  as  that  of  the  grave  ?  The 
spell  they  threw  over  the  hearts  of  men  is  felt  by  us  now,  and  we  are 
bound  by  it  still.  This  was  true  political  doctrine  when  England  was 
trying  to  rivet  chains  upon  Massachusetts'  and  New  York,  Virginia 
and  South  Carolina.  It  is  true  now.  We  stand  where  our  fathers 
stood  and  in  defence  of  the  same  rights.  The  United  States  occupy 
the  ground  of  George  the  Third,  and  are  re  enacting  his  despotism, 
obliterating  the  brightest  pages  of  their  own  hi.story,  and  tearing 
down  with  their  own  hands  the  monuments  that  were  erected  by  their 

'^     •     <^     •        •^  *•! 


ancestors,  and  cemented  with  their  b'ood  ;  and  such  will  everywhere 
be  the  verdict  of  enlightened  public  opinion  upon  their  conduct. 

Mr.  President,  we  are  struggling  in  this  war  for  the  right  of  stlf- 
government.  These  few  words  cover  the  whole  ground,  and  elucidate 
the  insue  we  have  joined  with  our  enemies.  All  others  are  minor 
considerations  and  are  merged  in  it.  The  contest  about  our  domestic 
in^titutionti,  the  li^ht  of  the  States  to  legalize,  destroy  or  perpetuate 
thein,  as' an  attribute  of  their  sovereignty,  are  all  embraced  under  the 
general  idea,  and  purel.y  an  American  one,  the  right  of  the  people  to 
s.'lf-government  ;  for  whatever  may  be  the  dogmas  of  legit'macy  and 
of  despotism,  under  which  man,  in  all  ages,  has  groaned,  and  been 
doomed  to  drink  the  cup  of  slavery,  w  ho/4  that  governments  have  no 
rigli»tul  authority  over  men.  except  by  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

Sir.  I  deKire  to  disabuse  the  public  mind  of  one  fatal  error  into  which 
our  enemies  have  fallen,  and  which,  to  some  extent,  is  participated  ia 
by  a  few  of  the  people  of  the  South  This  is  no  "rebellion  ;"  but 
such  a  war  as  independent  sovereignties  wage  against  each  other. 
These  States  were  all  equals.  Virginia  was  as  free  as  New  York, 
and  in  all  pcilitical  respects  her  equal  and  her  peer.  Equals 
cannot  rebel  the  one  against  the  other.  If  they  disagree,  and 
rcHort  to  arms  .•^s  the  arbitrator,  it  is  war,  such  as  writers  on  the  law^ 
of  nations  recognize  among  independent  nations.  The  people  of  the 
old  thirteen  colonies  were  Briti'sh  subjects,  acknowledged  to  be  so,  and 
dependent  on  the  Crown.  When  they  threw  off  British  authority  they 
were  in  rebellion  against  England.  Not  so  with  us  in  this  war.  We 
V  ere  the  subjects  of  no  power,  but  were  ourselves  sovereigns,  equal* 
in  all  respects  with  our  enemies;  and  they  who  call  us  rebels  con- 
found all  legal  distinctions,  and  show,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  *hat  they 
have  not  investigated  the  subject.  Here,  no  one  State  was  dependent 
upon  another,  or  upon  all  of  them  together.  The  States^  after  the 
i^ar  with  England,  received  the  acknowledgment  of  their  indepen- 
lienoe  as  States,  not  as  one  consolidated  nation.  They  wee  recognized 
ly  England  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  ns  States  ;  by  the  name  of  Geor- 
gia, Virginia,  New  York,  arid  so  on,  the  whole  thirteen  being 
called  by  name.  Undet  the  old  confederation  they  had  stood  for 
thirteen  years  as  equals,  and  voted  as  equals,  each  State  being  enti- 
tled to  one  vote.  Jn  1787,  when  they  formed  the  Constitution  of 
the  Lnited  States,  they  met  as  equal  sovereignties.  They 
did  not  afterwards  sink  their  separate  State  sovereignty,-  abolish 
tlifir  State  governments,  and  have  one  legislature,  as  in  the  case  of 
England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland.  No,  sir.  They  maintained  their 
State  80verei;'nty,  in  opposition  to  centralism,  ai«  beii.g  the  great 
«nemy  of  liberty  in  free  States,  which  would  swallow  them  in  the 
whirlpool  of  consolidation,  but  for  the  spirit  of  local  Belf-go?ern« 
rcents,  always  the  life-blood  of  freedom. 

The  States  never  surrendered  their  independent  sovereignty,  and 
when  the  Constitution  was  on  its  passage  through  the  convention 
that  formed  it,    they  unanimously  rejected    a  proposition   to   dele> 


gate  to  the  General  Government  the  power  to  coerce  a  Stale.     The 
proposition  wae  distinctly  made  and  unanimously  rejected  ! 

This  historical  fact  takes  from  the  United  States  the  last  pretence 
of  a  constitutional  right  to  coerce,  by  military  power,  a  State,  or  any 
number  of  them,  if  they  see  proper  to  throw  off  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  and  institute  a  new  government,  which  would  be  more 
likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness.  Even  Alexander  Ilamil- 
tcn,  who  was  supposed  to  be  the  advocate  of  unlimited  power  in  the 
government,  declared  that  a  proposition  to  coerce  such  a  State  as 
New  York  or  Virginia,  with  such  a  population  as  they  would  have  in 
fifty  years,  was  the  maddest  project  that  could  be  devised.  Mr.  Mad- 
ison declared  that  it  would  be  to  confer  despotic  power  on  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  that  it  would  convert  our  free  institutions  into  a  des- 
potifm.  While  the  States  exercised  military  power  to  establish  their 
independence,  and  delegated  to  Ccngress  the  power  to  declare  war, 
thev  did  not  intend  to  organize  a  government  with  a  view  to  the  sub- 
jugation of  the  sovereign  States  which  created  it.  On  the  contrary, 
they  unanimously  refused  to  delegate  such  despotic  power  to  the 
government. 

Nor  is  this,  sir,  a  civil  war.  That  is,  a  war  between  the  people  of 
the  same  State,  such  as  prevailed  in  England  between  the  houses  of 
York  and  Lancaster,  when  contending  factions  rent  the  vitals  of  the 
State.  This  is  no  such  war.  It  stands  on  the  broad  ground  of  a  war 
etween  sovereign  and  independent  States,  precisely  such  as  has  often 
prevailed  between  France  and  England. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  a  source  of  pure  and  Christian  consolation  to  the 
people  of  the  South,  that  they  did  not  rush  blindly  into  this  war.     No, 
air;  we  flew  to  arms  only  after  wc  had  exhausted  every  means  of  peace 
and  reconciliation.  Never  did  a  people  more  earnestly  implore  and  sup- 
plicate their  rulers  to  beware  how  they  drove  them  to  the  necessity  of 
defending  their  rights  by  an  appeal  to  arms.     We  implored  thorn  by 
the  ties  of  a  common  kindred,  and  in  the  name  of  a  common  God,  to 
abstain  from  the  injuries  and   insults  they  were  habitually  inflicting 
upon  us,-  and  from  the  usurpation  of  powers  not  delegated  in  the  Con- 
stitution, which  foreshadowed  the  establishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny 
over  these   States.     They  were  deaf  to  our  appeals.     In  vain  did  we 
invoke  a   peace  congress  to  step  in  between  us  and  them,  and,  like 
the  daysman,  lay  its  hand  upon  the  ono  and  the  other,  and  command 
the  peace.     The  Hon.  John  Tyler,  from  Virginia,  who  had  "  sounded 
all  the  depths  and  shoals  of  honor,"  and  who  had  been  President  of 
the  whole  United  States  in  their  purer  and  better  days — the  venerable 
Ju('ge  Iluffin,  of  North  Carolina,  who  had  for  so  many  years  presided 
witti   such   dignity  and  intelligence    in  the    Supreme  Court  of  that  i 
State,  and  had  shed  such    lustre  on  American  jurisprudence ;  as  re-  | 
markable  for  the  purity  of  his  character^as  for  the  power  and  clearness  I 
pf  his  logic — the  pure-ciinded  and  gifted  Judge  Caruthers,  of  Ten-  | 
nessc,  wl  o  had  held  nearly  everj  post  of  honor  in  his  native  State, 
and^vNtio  is  now  her  Chief  Magistrate  elect;  and  many  others  of  equal j 


patriotipm,  made  tlieir  pilgrimage  to  Washington  to  stay  the  coming 
strife  before  the  first  blow  was  struck — toiled  in  vain  to  bring  about 
an  honorable  adjustment,  and  were  at  last  forced  to  go  home  in 
despair  of  the  Republic,  and  to  tell  their  people  that  all  hope  of  saving 
it  was  gone  ! 

It  was  not  until  all  these  efforts  were  made  and  provetl  to  be  una- 
vailing; not  until  the  last  star  of  hope  that  blazed  on  the  political 
horizon  had  gone  down  in  blood,  and  Lincoln  had  made  his  proclama- 
tion for  seventy-five  thousand  men  to  subjugate  these  States,  that  the 
people  began  to  prepare  for  war.  When  that  dreadful  alterhative,  war 
or  subjugation,  was  presented  to  them,  the  masses  everywhere,  as  if 
by  instinct,  before  the  politicians  were  ready  for  it,  or  had  fully  made 
up  their  minds  what  they  would  do,  had  detected  the  lUrking  purposes 
of  the  tyrant,  sounded  the  tocsin  and  were  panting  for  the  conflict. 
The  politicians,  who,  in  ordinary  cases,  lead  the  people,  were  led,  in 
this  great  greund-swell  of  popular  indignation,  by  them.  It  was  more 
emphatically  a  movement  of  the  people  than  any  I  have  ever  observed 
since  I  have  been  in  public  life.     It  is  emphatically   tht  people's  war. 

Mr.  President,  we  have  now  maintained  this  unequal  contest  for 
nearly  four  years,  and  invoke  the  judgment  of  the  world  whether  or 
not  we  have  established  our  capacity  for  self-government,  and  our 
ability  to  resist  the  power  of  the  enemy  to  subjugate  us. 

\V  e  have  a  Government  regularly  organized  under  a  written  con- 
stitution, with  Executive,  Legislative  and  Judicial  departments  ;  all 
the  functions  of  a  constitutional  government  .in  full  and  successtul 
operation. 

If  the  Governments  of  Europe  have  not  seen  fit  to  recognize  us  as 
a  free  and  independent  Power  and  welcome  us  into  the  family  of  na- 
tions, it  is  their  fault,  not  ours. 

The  United  States  were  recognized  by  France  in  less  than  two  years 
after  their  decjaration  of  independence;  and  the  United  States,  in  a 
much  shorter  period  than  that  for  which  we  have  niaiatained  our  sep- 
arate nationality,  recognized  the  South  American  Republics  and  the 
Republic  of  Mexico,  after  they  asserted  their  independence  of  the 
G(A'ernment3  which  they  respectively  overthrew. 

We  need  hut  look  to  the  present  and  the  past,  to  settle  the  question 
of  our  ability  to  resist  the  power  of  the  enemy.  Less  than  four  years 
ago  we  were  without  an  army  and  navy.  Our  enemy  took  possession 
of  both,  and  turned  them  against  us.  The  wealth  of  the  country  was 
at  the  North  ;  and  the  pernicious  system  of  legislation  pursued  so 
long  and  so  persistinglj  to  our  prejudice  and  to  the  aggrandizement 
of  the  North,  had  concentrated  there  nearly  all  the  public  works  and 
manufacturing  power  of  the  whole  country.  We  had  neither  heavy 
ordnance  nor  small  arms  ;  manufactured  neither  powder  nor  ball ;  not 
even  percussion  caps.  But  see  the  progress  we  have  made,  and  how 
we  have  developed  our  resources.  We  are  now  making  more  than  ten 
thousand  pounds  of  powder  per  day  at^one  of  our  milU.  Our  army 
is  well  equipped  with  all  the  implements  of  warfare.     We  are  able  to 


iepp  an  nrmy  of  four  hundred  thousand  soldiers  in  the  field.  TVt 
hnre  met  the  enemy  in  a  hun^ired  baiiles,  and  have  baflled  and  defeated 
his  armies  in  conflicts  without  number  on  the  land,  and  our  little 
navy  has  nearly  driven  his  commerce  from  the  seas.  We  have  struck 
the  world  with  astonishment  at  the  power  we  hive  exhibited,  while 
th''  giize  of  all  Europe  is  fixed  in  admiration  of  the  gallantry  of  our 
soldiers.  If  we  connider  our  small  and  meagre  resourc'S  at  the  be- 
ginning, and  the  material  strength  we  wield  now,  we  are  ourselves 
antonished  at  the  progress  we  have  made  in  the  art  of  war  and  the 
•  science  of  government.  The  most  potent  .  ower  on  earth  has  gtineJ 
no  decided  a<lvantage  over  us ;  and  we  can  now  say  to  the  enemy, 
aft'-r  having  maintained  the  struggle  for  nearly  four  years,  with  so 
niuch  giillantry  and  success,  without  heing  misun<ier8tood.  even  by 
him.  that  we  are  sincerely  desirous  of  peace,  and  that  the  Confederate 
StHtes  Hre  ready  and  willing  to  open  negotiations  to  that  e  id,  on  the 
basis  of  tlw'ir  separate  independence,  positively  repudi:iring  all  id<'a 
of  a  reunion  with  them,  or  of  a  reconstruction  of  the  Union  through 
the  instrumentality  of  a  convention  of  all  '.he  States. 

If  we  were  to  agree  to  go  into  a  convention  of  the  States,  we  would 
be  bound,  on  honor,  to  abi'<e  its  decisinn.  They  ouiiiumb<^r  as  two 
to  one,  and,  of  course,  would  have  us  in  their  powet.  VVe  woul-i 
deliver  ourselves  over  to  them,  bound  hand  and  toot,  to  receive  the 
scourge  which  their  malice  would  inflict,  and  which  our  fatuity  and 
folly  would  richly  ^^.erit.  No,  sir;  let  our  enemy  know,  ami  l"t  ttie 
vorid  bear  witness,  we  strike  for  independence  and  will  be  saiisfTe*! 
yith  nothing  ehe.  Reunion  with  tb.e  United  States  would  result  m 
bon  lage  to  us  The  bondage  undt  r  which  Ireland  groiins — rbe 
tyr/tnny  which  England  has,  for  so  many  years,  inflicted  upon  ttiMt 
d>  wr'-tro<i<!cn  p'.'Ople,  would  be  visited  upon  us  by  our  eni'mii-s. 
Death  would  be  infinitely  preterable  -to  such  a  condition.  A  brave 
and  gallant  people  may  well  aff'onl  to  din  freemen,  but  they  c mnot 
afford  to  live  sliJves.  JJefore  su<  h  disgrace  and  taliuiiity,  as  w-uld 
assuredly  follow  reunion  with  the  United  States,  shall  befall  us.  E 
pray  God  that  the  earth  may  open  under  our  fi  et  and  bury  ev^ry 
Itan  won  an  and  child  in  the  wholt-  Confederacy  in  one  undistinguished 
grave  !  Yes,  sir;  wo  will  couit  death  in  any  shape — on  the  hatde- 
■fiehl,  in  the  earthquake's  dreadful  sh'»ck,  or  ocean's  stoim — before  w© 
•will  sut'mit  to  an^  terms  of  reunion  with   tflem. 

Listen,  sir,  to  a  short  lecita!  from  revolutionary  history:  In  1778, 
Lord  North  intioduced  into  the  iiriUhh  Parliament  his  famous  con- 
ciliatory bills.  The  first  two  retracted  the  claim  of  power  in  Parjia- 
ment  to  tax  the  colonies,  an<l  the  thiid  provided  for  the  appointment 
of  .commisKioners,  who  should  be  duly  authorized  to  treat,  and  agree 
to  a  facification  on  that  basis.  J  he  whole  scheme,  however,  pro- 
ceeded on  the  assumption  that  the  American  States  were  to  return  to 
their  colonial  dependence  on  the  Biitish  Crown  These  bills  were 
Eent  to  America  and  to  General  Washington,  who  laid  them  before 
Congress,     That  body,  on  the  2:.'d.  Ap.il,  1778,  promptly  and  unani- 


mously  resolved,  that  they  vtouM  hoM  no  conference  or  treaty  with 
any  coHamissioners  who  were  appointed  and  sent  to  America,  on  the 
part  of  Great  Britian,  unless  they  should,  as  a  preliminary,  either 
withdraw  their  armies,  or  acknowledge  in  positive  and  express  terms 
the  independence  of  America  It  is  worthy  remark,  that  this  bold 
lani^uage  of  our  fathers  was  used  when  Conj^ress  was  ignorant  of  tl\e 
conclu!<ion  of  treaties  v»ith  France,  aiid  when  they  thought  they 
"would  have  to  measur^'  strength  with  England  unaided  by  any  other 
power.  This,  Mr  President,  is  the  defiant  language  we  should  hold 
to  the  enemy.  Here  is  an  example  worthy  of  our  imitation,  an<i  I 
commend  it  to  ail  who  suffer  themselves  to  think,  for  one  moment,  of 
reunion  with  the  enemy, 

R>-union  with  them  ?  No,  sir  ;  never!  There*  is  a  great  gulf  that 
rolls  between  us.  It  is  a  gulf  of  blood,  without  a  shore  and  without 
a  bottom,  and  is  as  impassable  as  that  which  separates  Dives  from 
Lazarus  The  mute  objects  of  nature;  our  desecrated  churches  and 
altars;  our  sweet  valleys  drenched  in  blood  and  charrad  by  fire,  forbid 
it.  The  dead  would  cry  out  against  it  from  their  gory  beds.  The 
blood  of  my  own  sons,  yet  unavenged,  cries  to  Heaven  from  the  ground 
for  vengeance  The  thousands  who  are  sleeping  red  in  their  graves 
would  awake  and  utter  their  solemn  protest.  Stonewall  Jackson, 
Polk,  Stuart,  Rodes,  Morgan,  Preston  Smith,  and  the  thousands  ove/ 
whose  remains  a  monument  to  the  unknown  dead  shall  bo  ruised.  are 
speaking  in  tones  of  thunder  against  it;  and  can  it  be  the livwg  only 
will  be  dumb  ?  Sir,  those  who  have  died  in  this  war  are  not  dead  to 
us. 

"  E'en  in  their  ashes  live  their  wonted  firef." 

They  are,  in  the  light  of  their  example,  more  valuable  than  the  living. 
Their  spirits  walk  abroad,  and  stir  the  hearts  of  living  men  to  do  or 
die  in  the  cause  of  liberty.  We  cherish  their  memory  Weeping 
virgins  and  devoted  mothers  shall  kneel  arOund  their  tombs,  and  be<lew 
with  their  tears  the  graves  where  they  sleep  Poetry  shall  ^inbalm 
their  memory,  and  minstrel.-y  perpetuate  their  fime.  forever.  \7e 
give  in  charge  their  names  to  the  sweet  lyre.  The  historic  muse, 
proud  of  her  treasure,  shall  march  with  it  down  tu  the  latest  limes, 
and  sculpture,  in  her  turn,  shall  give  bond  in  stone  and  ever  during 
brass  to  guard  them  and  immortalize  her  trust !  The  soldiers  wfio 
have  died  in  this  war  are  not  only  enshrined  in  the  innermost  core  of 
our  hearts,  but,  to  the  mind's  eje,  are  ever  in  our  sight. 

"On  fame's  eternal  cauipinp  ground, 

Their  silent  tents  are  spread  ; 
And  glory  gu  irds  with  solemn  round 

The  bivouac  of  the  dead." 

Sir,  this  is  a  fit  and  appropriate  time  to  proclaim  again  our  unal- 
terable determination  to  be  free  If  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
by  re-electing  their  present  Chief  Magistrate,  who  began  this  war, 
and  who  has  perpetrated,  in  its  prosecution,  acts  of  unparalleled  atro- 


8 

city,  mean  to  give  us  notice  that  they  will  prosecute  it  still  further — 
mean  to  tender  us  four  years  more  of  war  or  reunion  with  them — we 
accept  the  notice.  We  accept  their  gage  of  battle,  and  defy  them  to 
the  contest.  They  may  bo  stronger  than  we  ;  but  a  people  who  are 
determined  to  be  free  never  stop  to  count  the  numbers  of  those  who 
would  rob  them  of  the  priceless  boon.  Besides,  sir,  the  battle  is  not 
to  the  strong.  There  is  a  just  God  who  will  fight  our  battles  for  us. 
Our  strength  is  in  Ilim  and  we  will  not  fear,  "  though  the  earth  be 
moved,  and  though   the  hills  be  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  sea." 

If  it  be  the  purpose  of  the  enemy  to  prolong  the  war,  let  us  begin 
anew  to  prepare  for  it.  When  mast  after  mast  on  Paul  Jones'  vessel 
was  carried  away  by  the  cannon  balls  of  the  enemy,  till  not  one  was 
left  standing,  and  that  enemy  had  boarded  his  vessel,  and  he  was 
called  upon  to  surrender,  he  heroically  shouted  aloud,  "I  will  never 
surrender;  I  am  just  getting  ready  to  fight."  Let  us  emulate  the 
example  of  that  stout-hearted  sailor.  The  Government  should  or- 
ganize its  strength,  and,  especially,  execute  our  laws.  The  failure  to 
do  so  stamps  weakness  on  all  our  eftorts  to  fill  the  army.  Let  us 
prepare  in  earnest  for  the  defence  of  our  country,  and  give  cordially 
every  power  to  the  Government  that  is  necessary  to  establish  our 
independence.  That  being  done,  we  need  have  no  fear  about  our 
personal  rights.  Who  will  dare  to  assail  them  ?  No  public  man 
could  maintain  his  place  who  would  have  the  temerity  to  attempt  it. 
The  real  danger  does  not  lie  in  that  direction.  The  great  difficulty 
is,  first,  to  establish  our  independence.  Then  every  other  temporal 
good  shall  be  given  unto  us.  We  have  men  enough,  who  have  never 
been  in  the  service,  to  drive  the  enemy  before  us.  Let  us  bring  them 
into  the  field,  and  give  them  an  opportunity  to  take  part  in  this  great 
war.  It  were  cruel  to  them  and  to  their  children  to  deny  them  the 
privilege.  If  we  could  bring  back  to  the  service  all  able-bodied  men 
who  are  absent,  from  any  cause,  we  would  reanimate  our  noble  armies, 
and  enable  them  to  achieve  fresh  victories.  Sir,  this  is  the  great  point 
to  which  we  ought  to  direct  attention.  Fill  up  the  army  !  It  is  the 
best  peace  measure  after  all.  Fill  up  the  army — it  is  the  great 
scheme  of  finance  that  will  regulate  our  currency.  Fill  up  the  army — 
it  will  achieve  our  independence  ! 

There  Avas  "but  one  moment  that  a  doubt  ever  bung  on  my  mind  as 
to  the  final  result  of  this  war,  and  that  doubt  was  soon  dispelled  by  the 
noble  conduct  of  our  army.  When  the  first  terms  of  service  of  our 
volunteers  was  about  to  expire,  the  Congress  felt  it  was  necessary  to 
conscribe  them  for  two  years  longer.  The  necessity  was  imperious, 
and  we  were  compelled  to  meet  it.  We  knew  all  of  our  soldiers 
wanted  to  go  home  to  see  their  families  ;  but  we  also  knew  to  disband 
the  veteran  troops  then  in  the  field  was  to  give  up  the  contest.  We 
■were  not  unconscious  the  step  we  were  about  to  take  was  a  perilous 
one  ;  but  the  public  safety  demanded  it.  We  passed  the  law,  and 
without  a  murmur  our  neble  soldiers  stood  to  their  arms.     No  com- 


plaint  was  heard  anywhere  except  among  tlie  politicians  and  those 
who  had  never  been  in  the  service. 

When  "two  years  more  of  war  had  rolled  round,  and  the  second  term 
of  the  soldiers  was  about  to  expire — when  the  Congress  had  the  sub- 
ject under  painful  consideration,  we  were  all  relieved  by  glad  tidings 
that  came  from  the  army.  The  soldiers,  anticipating  th9  act  of  Con-  , 
gress,  had  volunteered,  or  re-enlisted  for  the  war.  From  that  mo- 
ment I  felt  all  was  safe,  if  we  would  do  our  duty. 

I  had  the  honor,  sir,  to  offer  the  first  resolution  of  thanks  to  the 
soldiers  for  their  heroic  sacrifice  of  ease,  and  all  the  joys  of  home,  to 
the  good  of  their  country.  The  example,  which  all  the  army  speedily 
followed,  first  came  from  my  own  noble  Tennessee,  thus  reasserting  and 
re-establishing  the  proud  claim  of  Tennessee  of  being  the  "  Volunteer 
State  ;"  and  I  lifted  my  heart  in  thanks  and  praise  to  God  that  I  had 
the  honor,  in  part,  to  represent  here  in  the  Senate  such  a  people  ! 

Sir,  we  are  engaged  in  the  prosecution  of  a  mighty  war.  It  has 
swelled  and  grown  beyond  the  dimensions  anybody  gave  to  it  at  the 
beginning.  We  have  to  make  up  our  minds  to  fight  it  out  unaided, 
and  we  will  "  conquer  or  perish  more  proudly  alone."  We  have  de- 
termined to  suflfer  and  endure,  and  we  feel  that  suffering  and  endur- 
ance but  purify  our  hearts,  and  enable  us  to  make  sacrifices  that  are 
worthy  of  the  cause  in  which  we  are  engaged.  The  spirit  of  patriot- 
ism is  found  in  its  purest  state  where  the  scourge  of  the  oppressor 
has  been  most  keenly  felt.  It  is  then  unadulterated,  and  has  been  re- 
fined of  its  dross,  as  silver  by  fire,  "  The  blood  of  the  martyr  is  the 
seed  of  the  church,"  and  the  plant  of  patriotism  takes  root  and  flour- 
ishes best  in  the  soil -that  has  been  fertilized  by  the  blood  of  our  sons, 
and  fallowed  with  the  ploughshare  of  despotism.  We  may,  some- 
times, under  the  hope  of  saving  our  property,  temporize  with  the 
enemy,  and  even  listen  to  degrading  terms  of  reconciliation ;  but  if 
that  property  is  destroyed  in  our  sight,  our  families  insulted  and 
driven  from  their  homes,  and  those  homes  themselves  given  to  the 
flames,  the  remains  of  them  reminding  us  of  the  vandalism  of  the 
foe,  then  we  begin  to  burn  with  a  patriot's  fire,  and  are  willing  to 
give  up  all  earthly  treasures,  as  being  of  no  value  in  comparison  with 
the  liberty  of  the  country.  Many  a  man  is  a  good  patriot  without 
being  burpt  out,  but  he  is  certain  to  be  so  afterwards.  It  is  an  infal- 
lible remedy  for  all  who  are  deficient  in  love  of  country,  or  who  "  lack 
gall  to  make  oppression  bitter."  No  man  has  any  idea  how  cheer- 
fully the  people  of  the  desolated  districts  of  Tennessee  have  given  up 
all  they  had,  atd  how  strong  is  the  hope  of  the  future  which  animates 
them.  Their  faith  in  final  success  is  stronger  than  the  faith  of  the 
people  where  the  invader  has  never  been.  Thousands  of  my  constit- 
uents, who  have  heretofore  enjoyed  all  the  luxuries  that  wealth  could 
purchase,  are  now  eating  the  bitter  bread  of  exile,  or  are  compelled, 
by  manual  labor,  to  earn  the  bread  they  eat;  but  they  murmur  not, 
neither  do  they  complain  ;  seeming  to  realize  the  truth  of  Holy  Writ, 
that  the   "  rest  of  the  laboring  man  is  sweet."     They- submit  to  the 


10 

I 

change  of  the  condition  in  which  they  are  placed  without  a  Bigh.  No 
groiui  breaks  from  the  heart,  however  loaded  it  may  be  by  a  sense  of 
degradation  or  of  wrong.  They  say,  *'  we  do  not  care  for  the  loss  of 
o.ur  property,  but  give  us,  oh,  give  us  independence  to  our  country, 
and  freedom  from  Yankee  thraldom."  They  have  felt  his  contaminat- 
ing touch  ;  they  have  felt  the  degradation  that  accompanies  his  su- 
premacy ;  and  they  fear  his  rule  as  the  djing  sinner  fears  the  tortures 
of  the  damned,  and  pray  to  be  delivered  from  it  as  the  dying  Christian 
prays  to  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  hell.  Oh,  sir,  it  is  enough 
to  break  one's  heart  to  listen  to  the  recital  of  their  wrongs.  Not 
content  with  burning  mills,  dwelling-houfles  and  factories,  the  enemy 
have  committed  enormities,  at  the  very  name  of  which  my  heart  sick- 
ens, and  which  are  enough  to  shdck  hiirh  heaven  and  invoke  its  thun- 
ders. A  refugee  from  ray  own  State,  recently  out,  fell  in  with  a 
neighbor  boy  wbo  had  been  in  the  service  here  in  Virginia  since  Gen- 
eral Lee's  first  campaign  in  the  mountains.  He  had  been  with  him 
in  all  his  great  battles;  from  Petersburg,  along  the  winding  Chick- 
ahominy,  the  heroic  fields  at  Manassas,  and  away  to  Antietam  and 
Gettysburg,  wherever  his  banner  floated  or  his  falchion  flashed,  and, 
by  the  mercy  of  God,  was  preserved  uninjured.  The  meeting  of  the 
two  friends  was  touching  beyond  anything  [  have  ever  seen  in  fiction. 
The  young  soldier  said  to  him :  *'  Tell  me  quickly  the  news  from 
home.  The  old  man,  my  father,  is  he  alive  ?  is  he  well  ?  My  mother, 
my  sister,  how  are 'they  ?"  *' Oh,  sir,  the  news  is  too  had  to  tell. 
The  homestead  is  in  ruins;  your  ageil  father  was  murdered  by  the 
vandals  on  his  o^vn  heath-stone  ;  your  mother  fell  broken-hearted  on 
his  lifeless  corpse;  and  your  sister — oh,  1  cannt)t  tell  what  has  hap- 
pened to  her — she  is  now  a  wandering  maniac  !"  Can  we  have  a  re- 
union with  such  monsters  in  human  shape?    Forbid  it.  Almighty  G>d ! 

The  people  of  Tennessee  have  felt  the  yoke  of  the  oppressor.  They 
know  how  gallirTg  it  is  to  the  neck.  They  have  been  made  to  drink 
the  cup  of  slavery  to  the  dregs,  and  they  know  how  bitter  is  che 
draught.  They  have  been  ground  under  the  heel  of  petty  tyrants, 
and  they  know  what  it  is  to  have  the  iron  enter  their  souls.  They 
hate  their  oppressors  with  a  concentrated  hate  which  can  expire  only 
wifh  their  lives.  The  Jews  when  they  were  carried  away  into  cap- 
tivity in  Babylon,  never  looked  more  anxiously  for  deliverance  thaa 
they  are  looking  even  now  for  the  Confederate  army  to  enter  the  State, 
and  strike  from  their  limbs  their  galling  chains.  They  are  now,  sir, 
standing  on  tiptoe,  straining  their  eyes  to  catch  the  first  gli'mpse  of 
the  Confederaie  flag  as  it  floats  out  upon  the  wild  winds  free  on  yon- 
der hill,  and  long  for  its  coming  as  the  hunted  hart  pants  for  the 
water  brook. 

1  confidently  predict,  if  our  at  my  enters  the  State  and  maintains 
its  position  there  for  three  months,  that  its  numbers  will  be  doubled. 
From  every  hill  and  valley  pur  oppressed  people  will  come  to  our 
banner  as  the  "  leaves  come  when  forests  are  rended."  It  is  my 
nightly  prayer  that  my  life  may  be  spared  till  I  witness  the  deliverance 


11 

of  my  noble  State  and  my  oppressed  people.     Tennessee  !     Ob,  may 
I  be  allowed  to 

"  Raise  my  exultant  head  and  see 
Thy  hilla,  thy  daleg,  thy  people  free  I 
That  glance  of  bliss  is  all  I  crave 
Between  my  labors  and  my  grave!" 

I  further  predict,  Mr.  President,  if  our  army  goes  into  Kentucky 
and  stays  there  three  months,  and  gives  to  that  people  any  assur- 
ance that  we  will  hold  it  and  stand  by  them — if  they  will  unite  their 
fortunes  with  ns,  and  make  common  cause  in  this  great  struggle  for 
liberty — the  last  that  ever  will  be  made  if  wefail  ;  for  if  the  light  of 
liberty  ia  extinguished  here  the  gloom  of  despotiem  will  be  unbroken 
all  over  the  world  ;  put  out  that  light  and  where  is  the  Promethean 
spark  that  pan  that  light  relume — if,  I  say,  we  will  g^ve  the  people  of 
Kentucky  an  assurance  that  we  will  stand  by  them,  and  not,  by  com- 
ing ppeedily  away,  hand  them  over  to  the  ravenous  wolves  who  will 
thirst  for  their  blood,  thousands  will  join  our  army,  and  re-enact  the 
scenes  of  the  "dork  an^  bloody  ground,"  and  add  new  lustre  to  this, 
the  most  memorable  struggle  in  the  annals  of  time,  in  which  Ken- 
tucky has  not  as  yet,  as  a  State,  participated.  I  do  not  overestimate 
it  when  I  predict  that  fifty  thousand  as  gallant  men  as  ever  shouldered 
a  musket  or  hung  a  enbre  to  the  thigh,  will  be  added  as  fre^h  recruits 
to  our  army  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  Sir,  they  constitute  the 
Lest  recruiting  grounds  now  in  America.  The  people  of  both  States 
are  now  ripe  for  action,  and  will  coEie  to  the  rescue  of  our  gallant  army 
with  alacrity. 

Mr.  President,  let  us  be  united  ;  let  us  work  together  in  this  com- 
mon cause,  no  matter  at  what  cost  of  bkod  and  treasure  ;  for  it  is 
worthy  of  the  sacrifice  Let  not  the  future  historian  record  of  us  : 
here  was  a  nation  that  bij'avely  spurned  "  villian  bonds  and  despot 
sway,"  and  never  was  conquered  by  its  enemies  till  from  itself  it  ftll. 
If  there  had  been  no  division  in  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  we 
could  have  sent  to  the  field  an  army  of  4t)n,(IUii  men.  The  mother  and 
the  daughter,  locking  their  shields  together,  could  have  passed  through 
the  land  conquering  and  to  conquer. 

It  is  not  too  late  yet.  If  all  discord  were  silenced,  and  the  peopl«s 
of  the  two  States,  soldiers  and  politicians,  the  men  at  home  and  the 
men  in  the  a^my,  could  act  together  as  one  people,  animated  by 
one  purpose,  and  emulous  only  to  excel  each  other  in  the  race  of 
glory,  this  war  would  soon  have  an  end  ;  indeed,  under  such  a  condi- 
tion of  things  it  never  would  have  had  a  beginning.  It  is  kept  alive 
by  discord  now.  Is  it  not  mortifying,  in  a  struggle  like  this,  when 
all  hearts  should  be  united  in  a  common  effort,  that  any  discordant 
voices  should  be  raised  in  carping  criticism  against  the  Government, 
its  administration  and  its  President?  It  is  surely  task  enough  lor 
his  worn  energies  to  watch  the  public  enemy,  without  being  forced  to 
.endure  the  distrustful  assaults  of  friends  at  home.  From  the  bottom 
of  my  heart  he  has  my  sympathy  in  the  midst  of  the  great  and  multi- 


12 

plied  trials  by  which  he  is  surrounded;  trials  that  are  with  him  every 
day  and  hour,  and  which  haunt  his  pillow  at  night,  driving  sleep 
from  his  eye-lids  while  others  are  in  calm  repose. 

Is  it  fair,  or  generous,  or  patriotic,  that  his  opponents  should  select 
the  darkest  hour  of  gloom  that  hangs  over  the  country — a  gloom 
which  a  united  voice  and  effort  in  this  capital  would  drive  away  in 
twenty-four  hours — to  assail  his  character  and  mar  his  plans  ?  As 
though  the  pilot  who  stands  at  the  helm  in  the  hour  of  danger  did  not 
have  enough  to  do  to  watch  the  storm  that  is  beating  mercilessly  on 
his  vessel,  to  hold  its  head  steady  to  the  wind  and  shun  the  rocks 
against  which  it  could  not  be  driven  and  live,  without  being  harrassed 
by  the  railing  and  the  mutiny  of  the  crew  !  Thank  God,  those  who' 
assail  him  cannot  shake  him  in  his  steady  march  in  the  path  of  duty; 
nor  can  they  shake  the  confidence  of  the  country  in  him  !  Though 
their  words  of  censure  may  fall  harmlessly  at  his  feet,  the^  are  caught 
up  by  the  spies  who  crawl  about  the  capital  and  meet  us  in  our  pri- 
vate and  public  walks,  and  become  winged  messengers  to  the  enemy, 
giving  exaggerated  accounts  of  whatever  disaffection  may  prevail 
here,  and  encouragement  to  the  enemy  to  persevere  against  us,  under 
the  hope  that  domestic  discord  may  unbar  the  gates  they  have  not 
been  able  to  force,  and  weaken  the  fortress  which  has  hitherto  been 
impregnable  to  their  assaults,  and  from  which  their  columns  have 
been  hurled  back  in  confusion,  bleeding  and  broken.  Sir,  this  habit 
of  assailing  the  President  and  the  administration  is,  in  my  opinion, 
a  habit  more  honored  in  the  breac|j  than  the  observance.  It  does  in- 
calculable injury,,  and,  though  it  is.  not  bo  intended,  gives  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  enemy.  It  is  gratifying  that  no  such  habit  prevails  in. 
the  Senate.  But  notwithstanding  all  the  grumblings  and  mutterings 
of  disappointed  malcontents  elsewhere,  he  is  firmly  fixed  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people  ;  aye, sir,  in  their  heart  of  hearts.  They  put  their  trust 
in  him,  and  lean  on  him  while  this  storm  of  war  is  raging  over  the 
land  as  he  leans  on  Heaven  for  support. 

May  he  live  to  bring  the  vessel  safely  into  port,  amid  the  acclama- 
tions of  all  on  board  and  the  shouts  and  loud  huzzas  of  all  on  the 
shore.  Doubtless  he  has  committed  errors,  and  made  grave  mistakes 
in  his  judgments  of  men  and  measures;  for  everybody  and  every 
thing  was  untried  and  had  to  be  tested  by  experience.  Did  anybody 
ever  expect  any  thing  else  ?  for  is  he  not  human,  and  is  it  not  human 
to  err?  Our  own  Washington,  the  purest  and  greatest  of  human 
beings,  Avas  not  exempt  from  human  frailty.  •  The  people  have  given 
their  confidence  to  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States,  because 
they  believe  he  is  wise,  patriotic  and  brave ;  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  he 
has  done  nothing  to  forfeit  their  confidence,  but  a  great-deal  to  increase 
it.  The  consequence  is,  they  who  assail  him  do  not  injure  him,  but 
themselves,  and.  it  may  be,  their  Country.  Here,  sir,  is  the  rub.  The 
country  is  the  chief  sufferer.  The  shafts  that  are  aimed  at  him  fly 
wide  of  the  mark,  passing  him  harmlessly;  but  are  found  quivering 
in  the  heart  of  our  bleeding  country. 


13 

They  who  throw  themselves  in  the  way  of  a  united  and  vigorous 
prosecution  of  this  war,  from  any  unjust  suspicion  of  the  President, 
or  from  any  other  cause,  will  repent  it  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.  "  Who- 
soever falls  on  this  rock  shall  be  broken  ;  and  on  whomsoever  it  falls, 
he  shall  be  ground  to  powder."  In  my  opinion,  we  ought  to  give  him 
a  cordial  support  in  all  his  efforts  to  safe  the  country  ;  not  blindly, 
but  patriotically,  for  the  sake  of  the  country.  It  were  better,  it  seema 
to  me,  to  direct  our  thunders  against  the  enemy  who  is  trying  to  sub- 
jugate us,  rather  than  pour  out  our  invectives  on  his  head  whom  tho 
people  have  chosen  as  the  pilot  to  conduct  us  through  the  storm. 

It  shall  be  some  consolation  to  me,  Mr.  President,  wheii  that  storm 
is  over,  and  our  vessel  of  State  is  riding  on  tranquil  seas,  and  "  walk- 
ing the  water  like  a  thing  of  life,"  with  our  Confederate  flag  flying 
from  its  mast  head,  recognized  by  all  nations,  and  honored  and  respect- 
ed in  every  port  around  the  globe  ;  when  peace  and  prosperity  shall 
return  to  bless  tlie  land  ;  when  our  fields  shall  again  smile  with  the 
rich  productions  of  agriculture,  and  the  white-winged  birds  of  our 
commerce  shall  Oock  to  every  port,  carrying  our  great  staples  to  other 
lands,  and  bringing  back  the  luxuries  and  wealthy  of  other  nations  to 
pour  them  into  our  lap  ;  it  shall  be  some  consolation  to  me  then,  if  I 
have  not  upheld  the  arms  of  the  commander  and  stimulated  the  hearts 
of  the  crew  in  a  manner  commensurato  with  my  great  ambition  to 
serve  the  country  Jionestly  and  to  serve  it  well,  that  I  have  at  least 
done  nothing  to  paralyze  the  one  or  the  other;  but,  according  to  the 
best  of  ray  poor  ability,  done  all  I  could  to  sustain  the  cause,  to  advance 
our  standard,  to  brace  and  strengthen,  in  the  field  or  in  the  cabinet, 
all  who  honestly  try  to  serve  the  country  and  to  establish  its  inde- 
pendence forever. 


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